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Pensions Bill

I am sure that most of my hon. Friends will wonder how it is that the hon. Gentleman is not going to oppose the Bill’s Second Reading. We are all in the dark about that one. Let me clarify the issue. I am advised that a large majority of people with a good work history, saving from the age of 25, can expect a payback of about £2 per £1 in 2012. Of course, that crucially depends on for how long they contribute to the scheme. The research document that we published states, as we must, that these figures are for illustrative purposes only. We say very clearly that as specific circumstances change or underlying assumptions vary, that could of course lead to different results. The hon. Gentleman criticises the levels of means-testing, but he has been unable to set the level of his universal pension. He has also been unable to find any way of explaining how he is going to fund the £20 billion to £30 billion a year that will be needed in extra public spending. As my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen, South (Miss Begg) said, he would need to set his universal pension at about the same level as the guarantee credit. His solution to the problem to which he draws the House’s attention is simply unaffordable.